A civil servant in Kuwait has been sentenced to five years in prison and fined $1 million for collecting a salary for 10 years without reporting to work.
Key Points
The employee worked in the citizens’ service department but was absent for a decade.
Salaries continued to be deposited monthly until the irregularity was uncovered.
He was convicted of unlawful enrichment and abuse of public funds.
Earlier acquittals by two courts were overturned by Kuwait’s court of cassation.
He was ordered to repay $339,000 in salaries plus double that amount as a penalty.
Kuwaiti media described it as one of the strongest anti-corruption rulings in recent years.
The case reflects intensified efforts to combat salary fraud in the public sector.
In a system where accountability often drifts, this verdict strikes like lightning, a stark warning that even the quietest frauds cannot outrun the storm of justice.
Sources: Kuwaiti Court of Cassation, Al Qabas Newspaper,